I'm going to write in two parts because I'm tired, and some of my photos are still on my phone. I got there on Friday, having lost almost £100 on what looked to be an incredibly dodgy hotel, booking into another one that was also incredibly dodgy. But they all are, in Blackpool. The next day someone told me about pulling the curtains in their hotel room and the whole lot, rail and all, fell to the floor. Last year, Gina and me were crammed up against the pool table for breakfast in the recreation room. This year, well they served mile in the china teapot and water in a stainless steel one with teabags alongside, and I had about a teaspoonful of cold baked beans for breakfast on the second day. There's a research project for someone: find a decent hotel in Blackpool!
Conversation in the street is usually about rehab (and rehab not rehabbing) which is tremendously sad in a town throbbing with bars and boozers, with no obvious money to spend on anything. Blackpool council needs a hefty boot up the arse. They could do a lot more to divert the profits from the tourist trade (which must be HUGE) towards the town's poor people and give them a better quality of life. A huge Sainsbury's has quite obviously drained the lifeblood from many smaller shops and businesses, and has rather meanly closed it's café. You can't make a town middle class by building a huge Sainsbury's. That comes with good education and proper sports and recreational features that local people can access cheaply, and maybe a bit of culture too.
I heard that the local businesses much prefer Rebellion to the numerous stag and hen parties that descend on the town, mainly because almost all punks are courteous, respectful and tolerant. The whole of the gorgeous Winter Garden is turned over to the festival, an amazing camp and opulent setting for the peacockery and exuberance of the punters who show up in droves to participate either as audiences or performers. I've lost track of the people who said 'See you at Rebellion', and then I never actually saw them. Joe Davin, Molly Tye; I know Shanne was there because I saw her photographs. I saw the sound guy from last Sunday at Bannermans in Edinburgh going down an escalator. We'd said 'See you at Rebellion', but I couldn't remember his name even though we spoke for ages, and I couldn't remember what stage he was working at either. He was simply too far away to call over to. I went to watch Cassie Fox and her band I, Doris in the opera house, then saw Attila the Stockbroker's set on the Almost Acoustic stage in the incredible Spanish Suite. I spoke a bit to John Robb who was signing copies of his book, and chatted to Gaye and Eric at their stall in the stall bit. Then I spotted Dorothy Max Prior, who I was to interview about her book 69 Exhibition Road, and went to say hello. After that, I went for a walk on the seafront and scoffed a Mr Whippy but it was cold, so I returned to the heaving punk refuge of the festival. Exhausted by all that, I had a cup of tea then was just heading back to the hotel to collect my thoughts, when I heard some great music emanating from one of the ground floor rooms. It was a band called Noah and the Loners, fronted by a trans guy with an immense amount of energy. They were so good that I stopped to watch them for about six tightly-played and powerful songs before my ears told me it was rest-time, and I headed back via Henry Rollins at the Opera House, whose relentless staccato delivery of tales from his abusive childhood finished me off.
Next day, I had a lot to do. I'd rehearsed the routes the day before, and had roughly half an hour to get between venues. I started of with Max's interview, which went very smoothly largely because she has done a lot of these things; this was my first public interview, but we'd talked about what she'd like to focus on, and I was particularly keen on her talking about the nightclub Louise's where she'd hung out for many nights back in the day. There's no detailed description of it anywhere else, probably because music journalists weren't allowed in, and the whole scene was so reminiscent of life at The Alhambra in Brighton (although I didn't mention that), that I was keen for her to talk about it more. She read a passage about it from the book, and read again later when we finished off by talking about Adam and the Ants first gig at the ICA, which was actually hilarious.
I then had to hotfoot it to the Spanish Suite, where I heard Charlie Harper finish his acoustic set with the song Streets of London. Just like last year, when I followed a wild and popular band, the crowds melted away after he'd finished, although a surprisingly large number stayed and... Here come the Nightingales! Here come Gaye and Eric! Here come Damian, Mandy and her partner! Here come Herman and Gerie! Here come Darren and Becky! What a nice surprise to feel so supported and applauded; last year felt much tougher for some reason. I got plenty of applause too, and newly energised I raced back to the backstage area of the Literary Festival where Jenny, Dominic and Deia, (the former two the instigators of this whole thing) were chatting with Max, Tara Rez and Cathi Unsworth (who I'd never met before). Some genius of a stage manager had made coffee! Hooray! We started conversing before we even hit the stage, and then ably guided by Deia we talked about all things from finding your way through life as a female, to memoirs and mapping (essentially, psychogeography). It was an very interesting panel to be part of: we all have such different life experiences, but have survived and thrived regardless of the ways that other people have tried to define us (and often, shut us up).
We wandered around and heard some amazing music coming from the Empress Ballroom: it was Rumkicks, a charming, loud and tight threesome of South Korean women who had absolutely nailed their sound to a tee. They were really, really excellent: energetic, tight, tuneful and sharp-shooting their music and their repartee to a stunned and appreciative audience.
Later, I watched Rob Lloyd's interview with John Robb, and went to see the Only Ones.
But more tomorrow!
And thanks to Cassie Fox for this! https://www.punktuationmag.com/15-bands-not-to-be-missed-at-rebellion-festival/
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